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Jibbon beach walk in Royal National Park

Overview :
Jibbon beach walk is about 8.7 miles long and located near Cronulla, Australia. You start and end with a ferryboat trip and should... more » allow a day for this outing.

A right royal walk. The walk is in for the northern tip of the Royal National Park and this is quite close to Sydney.
The walk starts at Cronulla where you take the hourly ferry to Bundeena. less «

Tips:
Most of this trip is on the historic Gunnamatta Bay ferry and the walking is limited to a fairly short distance through the Northern... more » part of the Royal National Park taking in both beaches and a bush trail. At certain times of year there can be a few snakes around the bush area so be careful just to step over one if you see it. If you like fantastic water views and to walk on quiet sandy beaches with a foray into the bush, this is a walk for you.
I used public transport to get to Cronulla station but there pay car parks near the start point. less «

Points of Interest

1. Morning coffee at Cronulla

Cronulla has similar geography to Manly in that there is a headland separated from the mainland by an isthmus. This gives it two good beaches, one facing the ocean and another on the sheltered side in Port Hacking (named after first fleet quartermaster of HMS Sirius, Henry Hacking). From Cronulla railway station you can walk the few yards to the... More subway and through to the south and Port Hacking side of Cronulla. A couple more minutes and you are at the Gunnamatta Bay ferry quay. If you need to wait for the next ferry you can get a coffee and snack nearby.Less

2. Ferry arriving

At 11:30 the M.V. Curranulla arrives.
A dozen or so passengers boarded the ferry for our trip to Bundeena.

The ferry burbled it’s way across Port Hacking. As it is shallow over vast areas, the ferry followed a well marked channel. The sun is shining and there is a pleasant slightly cooling breeze. Soon we moored at a sunny Bundeena.
Bundeena is one of the few towns within the Royal National Park area. It is easy to get to by ferry but probably quite a ... Morelong drive by car. The houses around here look really nice.
I did follow some signs for a memorial walk and this took all of five minutes to complete. Cross over a green space and take the ten minute walk to the start of Jibbon Beach.
This is now the proper Royal National Park and there a just a few people at this end of the beach. You can take off your socks and shoes and paddle my way along the beach like I did.Less

5. Looking back to Bundeena

At the end of the beach after putting your footwear back on, the walk from here follows the rocky headland and is a mixture of narrows tracks through fairly overgrown bush and open rocky areas right on the coastline. It can be quite hot and I did not feel 100% comfortable brushing my way through the wattle with my exposed bare legs. There are... More plenty of lizards around but they are all small and timid. They were species that I did not recognise.Less

6. Distant city

The track comes out right onto the rocky coastline on occasions and you can see the distant city on the horizon.
After a while you arrive at Jibbon Head which has a magnificent view looking out across the ocean. You have a got a 270 degree vista of blue water from the ocean and right round to the upper reaches of Port Hacking. There is not a soul ... Morearound and it is a good place to sit on a rock, and eat a packed lunch in the sunshine. Unfortunately they have yet to make a camera that can capture the look and feel of a view like this.
After lunch, you set off along the coastal path. It makes the occasional foray back into the bush and it was on one of these stages I was confronted with a snake right in the middle of the path. It was only about a foot long, jet black with red at ground level. It spotted me and slithered out of the way. I was frankly a bit spooked having never seen a snake in NSW before (I have lived here for a year on and off). I smartly skipped by the area where the snake had been and continued with a greater degree of caution. Later I looked the snake up on the web. It was a red bellied black snake and highly venomous. There are warnings about them being around in the Jibbon area on hot days. It was just as well that I had not seen the warnings.Less

7. Jibbon Bombora

You continue in and out of the bush along the track until arriving at a beach. Here looking out to sea there is Jibbon Bombora that is white water caused by a large underwater area of rocks.
This is the point where you leave the coastal path and take another path that wleads through the bush and back to Jibbon Beach. Luckily the path was through... More quite open bush and there were not too many places where you had to crouch down and push your way through the overhanging growth.Less

8. Back to the beach

Soon the bright blue of Port Hacking came back into view. A little while later you can paddle your way back along the beach. After another session of reapplying socks and shoes you can stroll back along the hilly walk to the ferry quay.

9. Bundeena mermaid

Near the ferry quay you may feel that it is your duty to buy an ice cream in a local shop and sit in the park opposite to eat the ice cream while looking across the other local beach in Bundeena.

As I walked down to the ferry I saw a mermaid.

10. Port Hacking

I took a photo looking out from Port Hacking towards the ocean.

11. The return ferry arrives

The ferry

12. Inside the ferry

I caught the 3pm ferry
Inside the ferry.

13. Nearly back in Cronulla.

On a sunny day you may want to sit outside at the stern.
Nearly back in Cronulla.

14. I caught the bus here

There are bus stops right by the station for a choice if you are using public transport.

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